Chicago Fire FC (5-7-8, 23 points) wrapped up a three-game road trip with a 3-1 loss at Orlando City SC (8-5-7, 31 points). Xherdan Shaqiri had the Fire’s lone goal of the evening, while Facundo Torres scored twice in a winning effort for his team.
Orlando got on the board first following a flurry of shots late in the first half. Martín Ojeda picked off a ball outside of the Fire box, taking a touch before sending it wide to Kyle Smith. The Orlando right back then swung a ball into the near side of the box, where Torres leapt to head the opener home. Torres’ 38th minute goal tied him for the team lead with six for the season and gave his side the lead going into the half.
Chicago came out of the break on the front foot, looking to equalize early. After winning a corner in the 50th minute, Shaqiri dropped a pinpoint cross into the path of Kei Kamara, whose header was saved off the line by Orlando goalkeeper Pedro Gallese. The parried ball fell onto the path of Herbers, whose attempt to tap the ball in was saved once again off the line by a defender.
Orlando took advantage of the near misses minutes later. The home side once again won a corner kick that was rejected in the box, but a follow-up shot hit the elbow of an unlucky Fabian Herbers. The referee pointed to the spot and Torres took his team’s scoring lead with his seventh goal of the season on the good penalty kick.
The Fire wasted no time getting back in the game. Brian Gutiérrez advanced the ball forward through the middle of the pitch, working his way into the box off a give-and-go from Shaqiri. Upon receiving the ball, Gutiérrez was shoved down in the box, resulting in a penalty kick that Shaqiri took. The Swiss midfielder placed a strong kick well away from the gloves of Gallese and in for his second goal of the year.
Looking for an equalizer, the Fire left plenty of gaps that Orlando soon exploited. In the 75th minute, a ball was sent toward Ramiro Enrique while in an offside position. Fresh off the bench, the forward decided to peel away from the ball and instead allow Iván Angulo to get to it. Enrique then got back onto an onside position, received a pass from Angulo and rifled a ball past Brady, just inside of the far post for the final goal of the match.
NEXT MATCH: The Fire return to the lakefront to face Nashville SC at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, July 8 at Soldier Field. The match will be broadcast on Apple TV+, transmitted locally in English on WLS-AM 890 and in Spanish on TUDN 1200 AM.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Notes:
- Carlos Terán lined up to the right of captain Rafael Czichos at center back. The defender made his first start since sustaining a first half injury against St. Louis CITY SC on May 13.
- Arnaud Souquet and Alonso Aceves completed a Fire backline tasked with helping starting goalkeeper Chris Brady in his 17th start.
- Mauricio Pineda remained in the opening lineup, replacing Federico Navarro at the double pivot alongside Gaston Giménez.
- Xherdan Shaqiri returned to the starting XI following a 31-minute appearance in Kansas City. The midfielder returned to a central position in the midfield after featuring in a pair of UEFA Euro qualifying matches for the Swiss men’s national team.
- Fresh off earning a place on the MLS Team of Matchday 21, Fabian Herbers made his third consecutive start on the right wing. Fire Homegrown Brian Gutiérrez lined up opposite Herbers on the left wing, making his 16th start of the season.
- Newly minted MLS All-Star Kei Kamara made his 17th appearance of the year for Chicago. The Fire’s lone All-Star selection continues to lead the team with five goals this year, following the game-winner against Portland last week.
- Midfielders Javier Casas, Jr. (right upper leg) and Federico Navarro (right lower leg), as well as forward Chris Mueller (right upper leg) were unavailable for tonight’s match.
Box Score:
Orlando City SC 3:1 Chicago Fire FC
Goals:
ORL - Torres (6) (Smith 2) (Ojeda 7) (WATCH) 38’
ORL - Torres (7) (Penalty) (WATCH) 55’
CHI - Shaqiri (2) (Penalty) (WATCH) 66’
ORL - Enrique (2) (Angulo 4) (Santos 1)(WATCH) 75’
Discipline:
CHI - Souquet (Yellow Card) 20’
ORL - Jansson (Yellow Card) 35’
CHI - M. Navarro (Yellow Card) 72’
CHI - CJ Brown (Yellow Card) 76’
CHI - Souquet (Second Yellow Card, Ejection) 84’
ORL - Thorhallsson (Yellow Card) 90+9’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Souquet, D Terán (Haile-Selassie 61’), D Czichos (capt.), D Aceves (M. Navarro 61’), D Pineda (Omsberg 80’), M Giménez, M Herbers, M Shaqiri (Torres 77’), M Gutiérrez, F Kamara (Przybyłko 80’)
Subs not used: GK Richey, D Burks, D Dean, F Koutsias
Orlando City SC: GK Gallese, D Santos, D Jansson, D Schlegel, D Smith (Thorhallsson 88’), M Pereyra (capt.) (Petrasso 88’), M Cartagena, M Angulo, M Torres (Loyola 90+3’), M Ojeda (Martins, 67’), F McGuire (Enrique 67’)
Subs not used: GK Stajduhar, D Carlos, D Freeman, M, F Kara
Stats Summary: ORL / CHI
Shots: 19 / 8
Shots on Goal: 9 / 4
Saves: 2 / 6
Passing Accuracy: 86.3% / 87.3%
Corners: 13 / 3
Fouls: 19 / 13
Offsides: 0 / 1
Possession: 50.1% / 49.9%
Attendance: 22,070
Referee: Nima Saghafi
Assistant Referees: Jose Da Silva, Ben Pilgrim
Fourth Official: Luis Arroyo
VAR: Jorge Gonzalez
Asst. VAR: Craig Lowry
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Frank Klopas
On not letting tonight’s loss halt the Club’s recent momentum…
“It's always about the next game. We had good momentum but I think we have to keep grounded. This league is really difficult and momentum can change pretty quick so we came on the road, and I thought in the game, it was just small details, the little things that really had changed momentum in the game.
We were down 2-0, I think it's just certain mistakes that we made, and also discipline a little bit. But then we made – I thought the changes made, came in and gave good energy to the team. We got the goal back and again, we got caught in a 2v2 and gave up the third goal.
I do believe, for me, the header goal from Kei [Kamara] was a goal. It was past the line. I don't know what angle they looked at but it's just incredible that in our league we don't have goal line technology to really look at that. But it is what it is.
I think we just have to regroup now, obviously look at this game and correct some things and get ready, because we have a good home stand now with the next three games, and one game at a time, and this is a moment where we need to get points at home and not drop any points at home.”
On team injuries…
“Yeah, I think the big absence for us was Federico Navarro. Today he got an injury in training, which is extremely disappointing for us because he's really been in top form and he was a key guy for us, and obviously that's a big loss.
He's going to be out for a while. And then with the players tonight, obviously you're right, it was a physical match. Coming off the field, I feel that everyone seemed okay to me just visually but you know, I mean, I just have to wait and talk with the trainers and see if there's any knocks and bruises that I didn't – I didn't see in the game.
But I think that just with the guys that walked off, they seemed to be okay but the big loss for us was during the week in training with Federico Navarro. That's going to be a big loss moving forward, and hopefully we can get him back quick.”
On minimizing chances for opponents moving forward…
“I think transition moments, I think when you fall behind, you have a tendency to push the game and put more numbers forward to try to get back in the game.
To find the right balance, when we got the goal, I think that there was really a good energy, but then we threw way too many numbers forward and we got caught. And then, I mean, obviously, when –look, when you – we got the second yellow and you're playing a man down, it was late in the game, and we gave a lot of possession away and we gave up a lot of opportunities because we were stretched. It's just normal with one man down. But I just think just being disciplined throughout the game, and I think there were moments where we lost it a little bit tonight, and more than anything, it's just that.”
On Federico Navarro’s injury…
“Hopefully soon. I think that we tried some things tonight obviously with Mauri [Mauricio Navarro] coming in the middle, but that throws rhythm of the team off a little bit because Mauri has been playing extremely well in the back. There was a couple ways we could have went but being on the road, I wanted to be a little more conservative. Mauri has played in that position before.
But then obviously, I think that with [Osmane] Doumbia coming in, I really don't know the date, I think it's just working on his visa and stuff like that. But I feel that we have players on the team, whether it's Mauri, whether it's Fabi [Fabian Herbers], he can come in, depending how we want to play, maybe at home we are a little bit more attack-minded with players that we have.
But it's not an easy player to replace. Fede was in top form and he just does so many little things for the team, and he runs just so much for everyone else. So it's not going to be easy to replace but everyone else just has to step up.”
On what changed from the first half to the second half…
“Yeah, I think there were certain players that were coming back. We had to be careful. There were limited minutes for them to play, and I think one of them was Miguel Navarro, and obviously with Maren [Haile-Selassie], we are bringing them slowly and integrating them within the team.
I think in the first half, we lacked a little bit of just runs behind, especially when we had time on the ball, you know, we needed more guys that can stretch the back line and be more dangerous, and then obviously Miguel does bring that even from a left back position. And then Maren Haile-Selassie with his pace.
They came in and we had a big push with them coming back, you saw the impact, we had opportunities, big opportunity with Shaq [Xherdan Shaqiri] that hit it over the bar, I think that was a goal for him to put away and then Guti, again, had a really fantastic night playing. He created the PK which got us back into the game.
And then the discipline a little bit with the numbers that we pushed forward, we got caught in a transition moment and we gave up the third goal and became more difficult with the second yellow obviously with [Arnaud] Souquet.”
Chicago Fire FC Defender Rafael Czichos
On not letting tonight’s loss halt the Club’s recent momentum…
“Yeah, of course we came here to get a result, to get three points, and it's disappointing that we were not able to make this happen but at the end of the day, I think if you would have made me an offer two weeks ago and would have said, you're going to win two of the three home games, do you want to accept it, I probably would have said yeah, of course.
So we are not allowed to be too frustrated and disappointed. We are going to move on and now focus on Nashville at home. We have three games at home finally, and that's what we have to do next week, so focus on Nashville."
On fellow defender Carlos Terán…
“Of course it's a different game with Carlos. I have been a huge supporter of Carlos, and I like how he plays with intensity, with his speed. He's really important for me in my defensive back line. I was happy to see him back, but also Mauricio next to me, we have shown that we can work together and that we can be successful together. So at the end, it doesn't matter who plays. We want to get the three points every game and unfortunately today, I think we changed three times on this position.
This is definitely not ideal but yeah, I'm happy to have him back next to me."
On Goalkeeper Chris Brady…
"Chris is a young goalie, but he wants to learn, and that's for me the most important thing with the young players. He's been showing very good performances, but like I said, he's like willing to learn and he asked me a lot of questions and he shows me that he wants to be -- he wants to become a very good goalie and that's very important for us. I think you can already see that his game has developed, and yeah, I hope he's going to keep working hard and helps us."
On the officiating during tonight’s match…
“I know I have to be careful right now, but my main problem is it starts even before the game. Like all the time before the season, we have a thousand meetings, how we have to behave on the field, off the field, and then we have referee, he's like so arrogant, he's not looking at us and he's not saying hi. This is already ridiculous for me but then it's really hard to be a referee and difficult in many situations, I understand, but for me, very hard to understand. We have playing in a league, like it's important and we don't have the goal technology. It's the next big thing. I don't understand.
But at the end of the day, we could have played better. We didn't, and we lost the game and not the referee.”